Endovascular retrieval of two migrated stents from pulmonary artery by means of balloon catheter

Long-term central venous catheters can be associated with central venous stenosis in up to 50% of cases. Central venous stenosis can be managed with central venous stenting which was demonstrated to restore patency and improve suboptimal results after percutaneous transluminal angioplasty. Dislodgment of venous stents into the right side of the heart or the pulmonary artery during stent deployment is one of the most feared complications of this procedure. Percutaneous removal of these migrated stents is the preferred alternative for the more invasive operative intervention, which may be very hazardous in these patients. We report an unusual case of a 52-year-old man on hemodialysis who underwent endovascular stenting to treat a tight stenosis of the right brachiocephalic vein and superior vena cava and suffered from stent migration to the left pulmonary artery, requiring removal by interventional radiologist.

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 12-Month Patency After Intervention for Iliofemoral Obstruction Using Dedicated or Non-Dedicated Venous Stents

Background: Endovascular stenting of the deep venous system has been proposed as a method to treat patients with symptomatic iliofemoral outflow obstruction. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to compare the effectiveness of this treatment at 1-year following the development of dedicated venous stents. Method and results: We searched MEDLINE and EMBASE for studies evaluating the effectiveness of venous stent placement. Data were extracted by disease pathogenesis: non-thrombotic iliac vein lesions (NIVL), acute thrombotic (DVT), or post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS). Main outcomes included technical success, stent patency at 1 year and symptom relief. A total of 49 studies reporting outcomes in 5154 patients (NIVL, 1431; DVT, 950; PTS, 2773) were included in the meta-analysis. Technical success rates were comparable among groups (97%-100%). There were no periprocedural deaths. Minor bleeding was reported in up to 5% of patients and major bleeding in 0.5% upon intervention. Transient back pain was noted in 55% of PTS patients following intervention. There was significant heterogeneity between studies reporting outcomes in PTS patients. Primary and cumulative patency at 1 year was: NIVL—96% and 100%; DVT—91% and 97%; PTS (stents above the ligament)—77% and 94%, and; PTS (stents across the ligament)—78% and 94%. There were insufficient data to compare patency outcomes of dedicated and nondedicated venous stents in patients with acute DVT. In NIVL and PTS patients, stent patency was comparable at 1 year. There was inconsistency in the use of validated tools for the measurement of symptoms before and after intervention. When reported, venous claudication, improved in 83% of PTS patients and 90% of NIVL patients, and ulcer healing occurred in 80% of PTS patients and 32% of NIVL patients. Conclusions: The first generation of dedicated venous stents perform comparably in terms of patency and clinical outcomes to non-dedicated technologies at 1 year for the treatment of patients with NIVL and PTS. However, significant heterogeneity exists between studies and standardized criteria are urgently needed to report outcomes in patients undergoing deep venous stenting.

Treatment Failure of Venous Stenting With or Without Direct Oral Anticoagulants (DOAC) / Non-Vitamin K Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs) in Patients With Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) in Term of the Stent Patency: Protocol for a Systematic Review

Background: Venous stenting plays a significant role in the treatment of acute deep vein thrombosis (DVT). But the adjuvant anti-coagulant therapy could also help to more successful patency rate. We hope to elucidate the differences in the patency rate of venous stenting with or without direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) / non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (NOACs). Methods: Studies that work on the stent patency rate in venous stent with or without DOAC / NOAC will be included. The primary studies (Cohort, case control, case-series or randomized/ non-randomized trials) will be included if the participants / patients have had acute or chronic DVT, with venous stenting (at least one study group or all of study subjects) who have received DOAC / NOAC agents. The stent patency rate should be reported in all of study subjects within a follow-up time, minimum for 1 year. We will perform an electronic search on published or in press articles, which have been published in MEDLINE / PubMed, Embase, the online Cochrane database, CENTRAL and searches of clinical trial registries: clinicalTrials.gov, EU Clinical Trials, ISRCTN registry, WHO network registry for trials. PROSPERO databases will be manually searched for protocols.After screening of the relevant articles, selection and data extraction will be conducted in duplicate and independently. Methodological quality of the selected studies will be assessed using the Newcastle Ottawa Scale (NOS) tool. We will use “Hazard Ratio” (HR) as the optimum Effect Size (ES) in this meta-analysis, otherwise we will use or calculate “Risk Ratio” (RR) or “Odds Ratio” (OR) ES measures as the selected study specific ES. Discussion: In this review, we hope to find the treatment failure/ success rate of venous stenting with or without DOAC / NOAC regards to the stent patency rate and will try to provide insights into the right choice of anti-coagulant therapy.Submitted to PROSPERO (20/9/2021): CRD42021274542

A Comparison Between Pressure Wire and Microcatheter Measurements for Evaluating the Cerebral Venous Pressure Gradient

Introduction: A pressure gradient of over 8 mm Hg across the stenosis (usually located in the transverse-sigmoid junction) is one of the criteria for cerebral venous stenting in idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) patients. The possible inaccuracy of the traditional microcatheter-based pressure measurements has been discussed in previous studies. In the cardiology field, a dual-sensor pressure wire is routinely used for the evaluation of stenotic lesions. Using a pressure wire for cerebral vasculature was previously discussed in a small case series and case reports. In this study, we compared venous pressure measurements obtained using both a microcatheter and a pressure wire in patients who were candidates for stenting.Methods: A retrospective study was conducted, comparing the two methods of pressure measurements in 26 patients with venous stenosis. Altogether, 120 measurements were performed using both methods. Demographic characteristics, medical history, procedural details, medications, indications for the procedure, and complications were collected from the patient charts.Results: Based on an 8-mm Hg pressure gradient cutoff indication, 19 patients were found eligible to go through unilateral venous stenting based on catheter measurements alone. The wire results corroborated the catheter results in detecting all cases indicated for a stent. This finding implies a sensitivity equal to 100% for the wire measurements. There were no wire-related complications, demonstrating its safety.Conclusions: We conclude that the pressure wire is as safe as the microcatheter and can identify cases requiring intervention. A larger-scale study is needed to assess the measurement accuracy of the pressure wire in brain vasculature.

TP5.2.6 Use of objective assessment criteria to assess symptom severity and clinical effectiveness following deep venous stenting

Aims This review aimed to identify measures that assess symptom severity in patients prior to deep venous intervention, and outcomes used to evaluate its clinical effectiveness. Methods MEDLINE was searched for studies of stent placement for treatment of iliofemoral venous disease using relevant key words (April 2019). Data were extracted and validated by three authors. Results 6,356 patients with venous stents were identified from 93 studies. 1,300 patients (20%) were treated for acute thrombosis and 5,056 patients for chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), due to non-thrombotic lesions (2,200 patients, 35%) or post-thrombotic disease (2,856 patients, 45%). The Clinical-Etiological-Anatomical-Physiological classification (CEAP) was reported in 3,233/5,056 CVI patients (64%) pre-intervention (C0:2%; C1:2%; C2:7%; C3:46%; C4:21%; C5:6%; C6:16%). Stent patency was reported in all studies, with variable follow-up (six months – five years). Primary patency was 81% in 3,365 patients and secondary patency 95% in 4,700 patients at one year. 655 patients had active ulceration, of which 397 (61%) healed post-intervention. Venous Clinical Severity Score (VCSS) or revised VCSS was reported in 849 patients (13%). Average VCSS/rVCSS was eight pre-intervention and three post-intervention. Villalta scores were reported in 768 patients (12%) pre-intervention vs. 1,111 patients (17%) post-intervention. Average Villalta scores were 20 pre-intervention vs. five post-intervention. Conclusions Few studies use objective measures to quantify the clinical effectiveness of deep venous stenting; consensus is lacking on which is the most appropriate tool to use. More research is needed on ideal assessment measures to identify suitable patients for these interventions and to quantify clinical effectiveness.

Transverse sinus stenting without surgical repair in idiopathic CSF rhinorrhea associated with transverse sinus stenoses: a pilot study

OBJECTIVE Based on their clinical and radiological patterns, idiopathic CSF rhinorrhea and idiopathic intracranial hypertension can represent different clinical expressions of the same underlying pathological process. Transverse sinus stenoses are associated with both diseases, resulting in eventual restriction of the venous CSF outflow pathway. While venous sinus stenting has emerged as a promising treatment for idiopathic intracranial hypertension, its efficiency on idiopathic CSF leaks has not been very well addressed in the literature so far. The purpose of this study was to report the results of transverse sinus stenting in patients with spontaneous CSF rhinorrhea associated with transverse sinus stenoses. METHODS From a prospectively collected database, the authors retrospectively collected the clinical and radiological features of the patients with spontaneous CSF leakage who were treated with venous sinus stenting. RESULTS Five female patients were included in this study. Transverse sinus stenoses were present in all patients, and other radiological signs of idiopathic intracranial hypertension were present in 4 patients. The median transstenotic pressure gradient was 6.5 mm Hg (range 3–9 mm Hg). Venous stenting resulted in the disappearance of the leak in 4 patients with no recurrence and no subsequent meningitis during the follow-up (median 12 months, range 6–63 months). CONCLUSIONS According to the authors’ results, venous sinus stenting may result in the disappearance of the leak in many cases of idiopathic CSF rhinorrhea. Larger comparative studies are needed to assess the efficiency and safety of venous stenting as a first-line approach in patients with spontaneous CSF rhinorrhea associated with transverse sinus stenoses.